


Baby, Don't Cry

by resonae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-05 07:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1809853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resonae/pseuds/resonae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Baby, don't cry. You're not the one turning into seafoam tonight. Baby, don't cry. My love will protect you.</i>
</p><p>There is a legend of a mermaid who turned into seafoam because she was betrayed by the human she loved. Just like every other child, Baekhyun has the story committed to memory. Unlike everyone else, Baekhyun falls in love with a merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby, Don't Cry

There is a legend of a mermaid.

 

Just like every other child, Baekhyun has the story committed to memory. A beautiful mermaid had fallen in love with a human she rescued from a shipwreck. She’d given him _everything_ , cried tears for him that turned into pearl and cut her arms so he could have her golden blood. When he told her that he couldn’t be with her because of her fins, she went to the sea-witch and gave up her flowing, golden hair to turn her fins into a pair of human legs.

 

They married, and still she cried tears of pearls and gave him her golden blood, until it made her so weak and frail she could no longer go on. He threw her away and she cried tears on the beach, the waves lapping at her fingers. Her father, who had opposed the entire thing from the beginning, couldn’t bear to see his daughter in so much pain and brought her back to the ocean, except he couldn’t undo the sea-witch’s spell and she couldn’t breathe.

 

So he turned her into sea foam. The legend goes that her father takes out his anger on the humans that hurt his daughter, dooming them with storms that can’t be won over. But she laps gently at the bottoms of ships still to this day, ever gentle and guiding ships to safety. The legend among pirates and sailors alike is that on a clear night, just after the last rays of sun disappears under the horizon, you can hear her beautiful singing.

 

Baekhyun, as a kid, like everyone else did, had stood out on the beach, silent and waiting to hear her voice.

 

He’d never heard it, and he’s pretty much forgotten about the legend. Five years sailing as a trading ship’s medic, and the crew will say the king’s angry during a bad storm, and every morning the captain laughs and says he hopes that the lady will be kind to them today. But that’s it. No one over the age of 15 believes in merpeople.

 

So he doesn’t really quite know what to do when he comes to on a warm beach and eyes as deep as the depths of the sea are blinking at him. “Holy-“ Baekhyun says, flailing up, and the man flinches backward, drawing and diving back into the ocean.

 

Baekhyun isn’t imagining the flash a silver tail and a shimmery blue fin. He runs to the beach, and sees the tail disappear behind a rock. “Hey,” he says, his voice shaking. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

The merman is apparently just as curious about him as Baekhyun is of him, because he hasn’t gone. He peeks out from behind the rock he’s put between himself and Baekhyun, and his gaze drops to the gun and sword Baekhyun has belted to his side.

 

Baekhyun unclips them both from his belt and tosses it to the side. The merman hesitates, then disappears under water for a moment before appearing near the sword and gun. He picks it up with long fingers before shuddering and dropping both. He swims over back to Baekhyun’s side, his eyes glancing up and down Baekhyun before reaching over and lifting Baekhyun’s sleeve. His arm’s bleeding, but it’s a small cut that barely stings. “Oh. Uh. It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt?”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Baekhyun is _floored_. The merman has a pretty nice voice, but that’s not even the point. They can understand each other! He realizes his jaw is hanging open and he snaps it shut with an audible click of his teeth. The merman snickers and he lets Baekhyun’s sleeve go.

 

Baekhyun takes the chance to take him in. He’s quite possibly the most gorgeous man Baekhyun has seen all his life, and his entire ship is a ship full of good looking men. Baekhyun thinks their torsos are about the same size, and when he cautiously sits next to him, he sees that’s true – they sit about shoulder to shoulder. But his tail stretches a _lot_ longer than Baekhyun’s legs do. Okay, maybe not _that_ much longer. If they were legs, Baekhyun figures he might be a little taller than Chanyeol, their navigator.

 

He’s pale, and his skin glimmers with seawater. He’s not that broad – Baekhyun thinks he might have got the merman beat there – and he’s thin. His hair’s blonde, and for some reason being wet with seawater doesn’t make it droopy the way Baekhyun’s hair is doing right now.

 

“You’re kind of small,” the merman concludes, and Baekhyun realizes the merman was probably examining him the same way Baekhyun was doing to him.

 

“Excuse me.” Baekhyun fumes. “I’m not _that_ short, okay?” He huffs. “What’s… uh, what’s your name?” He has a bunch of other questions. Do you cry pearls? Do you bleed gold? But they don’t really seem polite. And might give off the wrong impression, especially since he’s not interested in making the other cry and bleed for him.

 

The merman snickers again. “Kris. And yours?”

 

“Baekhyun.”

 

Kris tests the name, and Baekhyun fights not to let his jaw drop again at the way he wraps his tongue around his vowels and consonants. “That’s a funny name.” He laughs again, and Baekhyun thinks maybe merpeople are just really generous with laughing. He laughs with his entire face, his eyes crinkling into half-moons and laughing in a way that makes his gums show.

 

It’s kind of _really_ attractive.

 

“Are all the merpeople like you?” Kris tilts his head, so Baekhyun clarifies, “Attractive, I mean.”

 

That makes Kris blush, but he tosses his head so his blonde bangs aren’t falling into his eyes and he scoffs. “Of course not. I’m just good looking.”

 

It _would_ be Baekhyun’s luck that he’d end up rescued by an incredibly good looking merman who is shy but covers it up with fake cockiness. When he gets back to his ship- He freezes. His _ship_! “Oh, fuck,” Baekhyun said, jumping up. The sudden movement made Kris flinch. “I have to get back onto my ship!”

 

Kris hums lightly, nodding. He jumps into the water again, the movement somehow graceful, and he closes his eyes, his head bowed a little. Baekhyun has no idea what he’s doing, but he feels like he shouldn’t bother him. After a moment, Kris looks up, smiling. “They’re anchored not too far away from here. I think they’re looking for you.”

 

Baekhyun blinks. “You can _tell_?”

 

Kris frowns. “Not _me_. The lady can tell. I’ll ask her to bring your friends here.”

 

“The – the lady? You mean from the legend? The mermaid who fell in love with the human?” Baekhyun’s jaw drops again.

 

Kris frowns. “Yes, her. Now shut up. The lady can’t hear me if you’re being too noisy.”

 

Baekhyun flails his arms and Kris looks impatient. “Wait, wait. What about you?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah, are you – am I going to see you again? Will you stick around?”

 

The merman laughs again. “You want to see me again?” Baekhyun nods, and the other’s eyes crinkle into half-moons. “Why? Is it because you want to sell my blood, too?”

 

Baekhyun flinches. “I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t do that.” His voice is quiet. “I just wondered.”

 

Kris must have been able to tell from his change of tone that he’s sincere, because he’s back on the sand. His fingers touch Baekhyun’s, and Baekhyun looks up. “I know,” Kris says, simply. “I saved you because the lady asked me to. She wouldn’t have, if you were a bad person.” He plucks a scale from his tail. It’s translucent, shining all colors of the rainbow when Baekhyun turns it over in his hand. “It’s clean. Put it between your lips and blow. Try it now.” Baekhyun does, and a clear whistle blows through the wind. Kris laughs again. “I’ll come, when you ask. But – but not when the others are around, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Baekhyun echoes, sliding the scale into his shirt pocket. “I’m never going to lose it.”

 

Kris huffs. “Well, good. Now shush. I’ll get your friends here.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun learns that no matter how quietly he blows the whistle, Kris will hear it. He stays up late at night on the ship, blows a quiet whistle, and waits a while, and Kris will surface, his pale skin glimmering in the moonlight.

 

Baekhyun then drops a dinghy down so he can talk to Kris. He always has something for him, whether it be a piece of cake he hid from the dinner table or a small piece of jewelry. Kris has a fondness for earrings, Baekhyun notices, so it’s mostly studs. Kris brings him little things, too, except Kris’ little things are jewels. That cost a ton.

 

Baekhyun had refused them at first, but then Kris had scoffed and told him they were worth nothing, underwater. “We _cry_ these things. You think they hold some kind of value? But I know you humans are weird.”

 

So Baekhyun took the bags of jewels Kris handed him every time. Thankfully Joonmyeon – the captain – only cared about how much they had when didn’t have enough money to spend, so no one really noticed that they weren’t running out of precious stones to sell.

 

Kris looks a little downcast, even when Baekhyun passes him chocolate. He holds it in his hands, his tail hanging off the side of the dinghy. “My father found out that I’ve been coming to see you.”

 

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s not good.”

 

Kris snorted, sliding so he was leaning on Baekhyun. “No. He doesn’t – it’s kind of forbidden, for us to go into contact with humans. Especially after what happened to the lady.”

 

“I won’t hurt you.”

 

“I know that. The _lady_ knows that. But my father doesn’t. I’m going to kill Tao for telling him, because I _know_ it was Tao.”

 

“Tao?”

 

“My little brother. And my bodyguard, I guess.” Kris snorts again, flicking his tail against the water. “I’m kind of, uh, clumsy. So our father told him to keep an eye on me, except he takes it way too seriously. I _know_ he’s the one who also told Xiumin and Luhan – those are my older brothers. I don’t think they’d tell father, though, so it must have been Tao.”

 

Baekhyun smiled, raising his hand to run his fingers through Kris’ blonde hair. He remembers the first time he did it, with Kris’ head in his lap, he’d been surprised by how soft his hair was. “Sounds like he really cares about you, though.” Kris snorts, but doesn’t deny it. Baekhyun pulls Kris down so that his head is resting on Baekhyun’s thighs. “Can you not come see me anymore, then?”  


Kris rolls his eyes. “I will. Just, if it takes me a while, you know why.” He unwrapped the bar of chocolate and bit into it, humming under his breath. His tail hung lazily over the end of the small boat and Baekhyun ran his hands through Kris’ hair. He bent down to press their lips together, on whim, but Kris didn’t pull back or start, just smiled against his lips before kissing back.

 

When they parted, they were both grinning at each other. Baekhyun leaned back, making the dinghy rock a little. “Tell me about your brothers.”

 

\--

 

Kris has five brothers – Xiumin, Luhan, Lay, Chen, and Tao. Baekhyun jokes about his father being really productive, except Kris shrugs and says, “Well, we’re not all from the same mother.”  


“What? Is that, uh, normal?”

 

Kris shrugs. “It’s not _ab_ normal. Not for kings, anyway.”

 

“Wait, _king_? You’re – you’re a _prince_?”

 

Kris stops chewing chocolate for a moment. “I never said? It’s not too much of a big deal. Xiumin’s the crown prince, and he’ll do a good job at it. Even though he’s not really interested in it.” Kris’ nose scrunches. “Xiumin wants me to be king, when father passes away, but I’m not really into that, either. None of us are. It drives father crazy.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun shakes out the bag of jewels into their inventory. Gems of all colors tumble out from the satchel. Kris told him that not all merpeople cry pearls – Xiumin cries rubies, Luhan cries sapphires, Lay cries emeralds, Chen cries opals, and Tao cries amethyst. “We have a _lot_ of amethyst lying around,” Kris had said, rolling his eyes. “Tao cries a ton.”

 

He hadn’t told Baekhyun what _he_ cried, and Baekhyun hadn’t pressed. He sighs and turns around, pocketing the pouch.

 

Joonmyeon is standing there, and Baekhyun is so surprised he flails and falls back onto their pile of inventory. “So this is why we aren’t running out of money.” Baekhyun’s mouth opens to form some sort of excuse, but Joonmyeon shakes his head before he can even form words. “I saw you with the mermaid.”

 

Mer _man_ , Baekhyun thinks, but doesn’t make a move to correct him. He blurts instead, “You won’t tell the others, will you?”

 

Joonmyeon looks at him for a long time. “No, I won’t. But they won’t do anything to hurt your mermaid, even if they _do_ know.”

 

Mer _man_ , Baekhyun thinks again, almost blurting it out this time. “I just… I just think he’d be better off if less people know.”

 

\--

 

The next time Baekhyun calls Kris is two weeks later, and he cautiously tells Kris that his captain knows. “I should’ve been more careful,” Baekhyun apologizes. “I’m so sorry.”

 

Kris nods slowly, like he’s mulling over the thought. “It’s okay.” He’s in the water, this time, not on the dinghy like usual. “I have to go soon. Tao’s…” Kris scowls into the water. “Tao’s nearby. But call me next week, and I’ll ditch him. He’s a faster swimmer than I am, but I know the waters better than he does.” Kris smiles up at Baekhyun. His eyes crinkle and his gums show, and Baekhyun’s never seen a brighter smile. “Don’t worry about your captain. If you can trust him, I can, too. Oh, and this.”

 

Kris holds up a bag of gems. “I made Luhan cry a bunch by telling him sad stories, so there are a lot of sapphires in there. And the usual amethysts. Because Tao.” Kris rolls his eyes. “You said sapphires are worth more, right? I tried to get Xiumin and Lay to cry, too, but Xiumin got mad at me.”

 

Baekhyun laughs. “You don’t have to make your brothers cry because of this, Kris. You don’t even have to bring me this.”

 

Kris smiles sweetly. “But it’s good for you, right?” He’s looking expectantly up at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun nods, grinning. Kris lifts himself up, bracing his arms on the sides, and pecks Baekhyun’s lips. He snickers when Baekhyun flushes a bright red, and he’s gone in a flurry of waves.

 

Baekhyun snorts and rolls his eyes. He’s about to pull himself back up when the dinghy slams back into the water. He yelps and falls on his ass. He’s about to curse broken ropes when he sees a dark pair of eyes looking at him. “Holy shit,” he says, cringing back.

 

It takes him another moment to realize that it’s a merman. He’s pretty tan, unlike Kris. While Kris has bright blonde hair and light brown eyes, this one has hair and eyes darker than the night that surrounds them. “You,” he says, jabbing a finger in Baekhyun’s direction, “stay away from him.”

 

Oh. “You must be Tao,” Baekhyun says, and by the narrowing of the pitch-black eyes, guesses he answer is _yes_. “I’m sure Kris will be happy when he hears you came to me to tell me this.”

 

That makes Tao lunge forward to jab his finger in Baekhyun’s chest. Baekhyun gets a glimpse of his tail – jet black, just like his hair. “I’d rather have him unhappy at me and _alive_ , than happy and seafoam.”

 

Baekhyun scowls. “Why would he turn to seafoam? I’m not interested in his blood or his tears.”

 

Tao’s glare hardens, but before he can say anything else, there’s a flash of gold and pearl and Tao’s smacked down into the water. Kris is back, seething, and Baekhyun realizes the flash of colors he saw was Kris’ tail. “Ow!” Tao cries, when he’s back up. “ _Ge_ , what the hell?”

 

Kris looks pissed. They start rambling in a language Baekhyun can’t understand, and Baekhyun stares, his eyes wide as the two brothers fight, snapping at each other. Kris dives for Tao again, but after a bit of scuffles Tao’s got his arms locked around Kris. Kris hisses, snapping in the foreign language again and throwing Tao’s arms off. “Go away.” Kris snaps back in Baekhyun’s language, shoving Tao hard. Tao doesn’t budge. “Tell father I’m here, I don’t _care_.”

 

“ _Ge_.” Tao says, his voice pleading. He glances at Baekhyun, and his lips pull taut. When he talks, it’s back in Baekhyun’s language, as well. “He’s just _human_. You’ve suitors from all the seas.” He grabs Kris’ wrist.

 

The news doesn’t really surprise Baekhyun – Kris is good looking, so it makes sense that he’d got suitors – but it still jolts him. Make a stab of jealousy twist in his gut. Kris throws himself on the dinghy behind Baekhyun, and Tao’s jaw drops. “ _Ge!_ ” His face turns stormy. “I’m going to get Xiumin.”

 

Baekhyun feels Kris flinch behind him. “Go ahead,” Kris says, curling his tail. “Get Luhan and Lay and Chen while you’re at it, too.”

 

“Wait, _stop_.” Baekhyun cries, throwing his hands in the air. To his infinite surprise, they both do. “I’m clearly missing something here. I’m not going to talk about Kris to anyone. I’m not interested in the gold he bleeds, or the gems he cries.”

 

“The problem is,” Tao snaps, “that he can talk to the lady.”

 

Baekhyun frowns, leaning back on his heels. “Uh… you can’t do that?”

 

Tao lets out a frustrated breath. “No. None of the other merpeople can. It’s just Kris. He was born with it, and ever since I can remember, father has been scared that Kris would share her fate. And _look._ He’s already halfway there. And,” Tao continues, before either Baekhyun or Kris could get in a word, “it doesn’t make me feel _slightly_ better that the lady approved of this human. In fact, it makes me feel worse. You do realize that the human that the lady trusted betrayed her, right? And it doesn’t even have to be this human.” Tao jabs his fingers at Baekhyun, glaring at him before continuing on his rant. “What if you’re seen? And have you forgotten what the sea witch said?”

 

Kris looks severely unimpressed. Baekhyun asks, “What did she say?”

 

“She said,” Tao says, apparently at the peak of his frenzy, “that Kris is going to suffer the same fate as the lady before his 21st birthday.”

 

Baekhyun freezes, feeling his heart drop. “What?”

 

“Don’t – don’t take this out of context.” Kris hisses. “The sea witch hasn’t gotten _any_ of her predictions correct. She only said that because she’s always hated me.”

 

“Who is this?” Baekhyun asks, feeling his heart thump loudly in his chest. “The sea witch? The same as the one in the legend?”

 

Kris waves his hand. “No. That one’s been dead thousands of years. Anyway, this one _claims_ to be the sea witch’s descendent, but she has zero ounce of magic in her. She literally cannot do any spells. Exactly zero of her predictions have come true. She never liked me because I could talk to the lady, and she tried to pretend like she could, except I proved her wrong every single time.”

 

“When do you turn 21?”

 

Kris hums, slapping his tail against the water to splash water on Tao. Tao looks offended. “In 6 of your human months.”

 

“Then maybe, maybe it’s better if you stay away for those 6 months?” Baekhyun suggests. Tao perks up, and Kris’ eyes widen. Baekhyun takes Kris’ hands. Kris has bigger hands than he does, but he manages to cup them in his hands anyway. “Listen, I – I know it’s stupid, but still. Let’s be safe. Once you turn 21, the prediction was obviously a lie and you can come see me, no problem, right?”

 

“But I won’t see you for 6 months.” Kris whispers. “You’re okay with that?”

 

Baekhyun leans forward to press a kiss to Kris’ nose. Tao gags in the back and Baekhyun ignores him. “Kris, I just… I’d rather have you alive. And after six months, you can come see me again. Every day. And you won’t have a little tagalong.”

 

“Hey!” Tao says, swishing his tail across the water to splash them. Kris looks murderously at him, and Tao looks like he regrets it immediately. Baekhyun wants to know how this relationship works – Kris looks like the weaker one, physically. He’s got a longer tail, but he’s thinner and paler, not to mention Kris has no muscles while Tao looks finely sculpted. But Kris can subdue Tao with a look.

 

Kris turns his attention back to Baekhyun. “If I don’t see you for the next six months, how will I get you the gems?”

 

Baekhyun’s gaze slides to Tao, who throws his hands up. “Fine. _Fine_. Ge, I’ll be your messenger and swim your stupid presents for you back and forth. Every two weeks.” Tao reaches forward, and before Baekhyun can react, he swipes the silver scale from his inner shirt pocket and snaps it in half before tossing it into the sea. He hands Baekhyun a pitch-black scale instead. “Every two weeks, I’ll come to your stupid boat so I can give you _ge_ ’s presents. If you need me before that, you blow on that, you’ll get me.”

 

\--

 

It starts raining that day.

 

Two weeks later (without a stop to the rain), Tao keeps his word. He hands Baekhyun a bag, dropping it into his palm. “It’s all Kris’ tears. He’s pretty much been crying nonstop. It’s making Luhan go insane. He hates it when Kris cries.”

 

Baekhyun hands him a bag of cookies in exchange. “That’s for you. I don’t think they’ll survive in the sea, so eat them now.”

 

Tao frowns at the bag. “Your poison won’t work on me.”

 

“They’re not _poisoned_. Kris liked them so I figure you would, too. And this is for Kris.” Baekhyun gives Tao another pouch, but Tao’s too engrossed in glaring at star-shaped cookies, so he puts it down on the edge of the dinghy instead. Baekhyun opens the bag. He’s never asked Kris what he cried, and he shakes out the bag.

 

Diamonds spill into his palm.

 

Baekhyun’s jaw drops. “Holy _sh-_ Kris cries _diamonds_?”

 

Tao looks up, his mouth full of cookies. “That’s what you humans call them, yeah. Hey, you got more of these cookie things?”

 

\--

 

Tao keeps coming for the three months that come after that, always eating cookies until he’s satisfied and bringing him bags of diamonds. Baekhyun’s heart throbs when he thinks of them as Kris’ _tears_ , of how upset he has to be when he’s been crying nonstop for months. It also doesn’t stop raining, and Baekhyun wonders if maybe Kris crying and this nonstop rain has _something_ to do with each other.

 

The merman that comes on the second week of the fourth month isn’t Tao. Baekhyun stares at the merman. He _looks_ , Baekhyun thinks, like a kid. His golden tail is a lot shorter than Kris or Tao’s, and his auburn hair just makes him look younger. “My name is Xiumin. I understand you’re the reason why my little brother’s crying.”

 

“ _You’re_ the oldest brother?!” Baekhyun’s jaw drops. He could believe it, if he said he was the youngest. Although that wouldn’t make sense, since Tao was. Maybe second youngest.

 

Xiumin doesn’t look fazed as he hands Baekhyun the usual pouch. Baekhyun opens it, and when he sees the diamonds, his face falls. “You don’t look happy.” Baekhyun looks up to see Xiumin with an eyebrow raised. “Are they not enough? Diamonds are the most precious gems for humans, no?”

 

“What? No, you’re getting the wrong idea.” Baekhyun puts the pouch down, sighing as he rubs at his chest in an attempt to ease the throbbing there. “I’d rather have no diamonds and know he’s not crying.”

 

Xiumin’s expression softens. “I see.” His hands brush across the top of the water. “You know, I was the one who heard the prediction. No one else was around. And while I might have brushed off her words as another rant…” He frowns, and stops. His fingers land on the water, and the water trembles below them. “It was different from how she normally is. She seemed like she was in some kind of trance… like the words were something she couldn’t control. She doesn’t have any memory of saying the words. I told father this, and no one else. I figured I could protect Kris from him, especially if he didn’t know. If he thought it was just the witch being ridiculous again. Self-fulfilling prophecies, you know.”

 

Baekhyun’s blood runs cold. “You think it might be true?”  


Xiumin glances at him. “I pray it isn’t, but it seems half of it has already come true.” He nods at Baekhyun. “He’s already fallen in love with a human. Although…. You don’t seem like you would sell him for his blood and tears. But that worries me more.” Xiumin sighs, his fingers running along the waves again. “No seafoam.” He says, more to himself. His fingers dip into the surface of the water, and suddenly all the waves die.

 

Baekhyun’s jaw drops when the boat stops rocking. “What the…” Xiumin raises his arm, and with a flick of his wrist, the rain stops smashing down onto them, but just in the area around them. “What the – did _you do that_?”

 

Xiumin’s lips quirk. “I’m the next in line for the throne. Haven’t quite mastered the art yet, but getting there. I’d like for us to talk without the seafoam bothering us. Waves, no matter how low, carry a bit of seafoam.”

 

“The lady?”

 

Xiumin hums, dipping his fingers into the water again. There’s a slight wave, and Baekhyun thinks the waves are starting again, except it’s a whale.

 

Baekhyun is not kidding. There is a whale coming up. It’s coming up so slowly that it’s not making much of a ripple among the surface, but it’s huge. Xiumin perches on it as it floats just below the surface, providing a surface for Xiumin to sit on. “That is what Kris calls her. What most call her. The lady. But my father and I….” He pats the whale’s back, almost distracted for a moment. “Maybe I’m biased because my little brother’s life is being threatened. But I’ve come to think that the lady might not be such a nice presence that Kris thinks.”

 

He continues, “There was seafoam underwater, when I heard the witch give her prediction. There normally _is_ no seafoam underwater. Kris also says the lady led him to you. While I now understand that you’re not a bad human…. You’re a human nonetheless. Being exposed to humans is danger for all us merpeople. Kris never really cared about what happened above the waters before he met you.”

 

Baekhyun frowns, and they sit in silence for a moment. Baekhyun still isn’t quite over the fact that Xiumin is sitting on a giant whale. Or the fact that he can make waves stop and the rain disperse. “You think that the lady – the seafoam, whatever – did it on purpose?”

 

Xiumin’s answer is immediate. “Yes. I think she’s vengeful. She wants someone to suffer the same way she did. I don’t know why she chose Kris, but things are starting to move the way she wants it to. And Kris is turning 21 soon. He understands that we’re worried about him, but I just hope…. That this isn’t just doing what the seafoam wants us to do.” Xiumin sighs, and the whale lets out a sorrowful sound.

 

The two of them sit in silence for a while, until Baekhyun looks up at the rain that’s everywhere but around them. “Is that Kris, too?”

 

Xiumin laughs, but the sound is bitter. “Yes.”

 

\--

 

“This is weird,” Chanyeol says, frowning at the map. “We’re not going where we want to.”

 

Joonmyeon raises an eyebrow. “What?”

 

“The currents, they’re all weird. Not flowing the way they’re supposed to.” Chanyeol’s brows are set in a frown, and Baekhyun cranes his neck to see where the ship’s navigator is tracing lines with his finger. “See, according to my chart, the current’s supposed to be flowing southwest. But it’s flowing east. And I _know_ for a fact that I can’t be wrong. We’ve been here just two months ago and this is how the current was flowing.”

 

“Maybe it’s all this rain that’s messing the currents up.” Jongin complains, kicking the door open. He and Sehun fall in and shake themselves like wet dogs, throwing their soaked raincoats into the rapidly growing pile of laundry. Baekhyun can’t remember whose turn it is to do laundry. “It’s screwing with the _engines_ , that’s for sure.”

 

Kyungsoo slides them plates piled with food. “Can the rain actually change currents?”

 

Chanyeol snorts. “No. But then again, I don’t think we’ve ever had it rain for over 4 straight months…”

 

Baekhyun rubs at his chest, biting his lip and leaning back. He’d handed the diamonds over to Joonmyeon directly so there weren’t a random pile of diamonds on top of their inventory, but he hasn’t told Joonmyeon why it was raining so hard.

 

Baekhyun fingers the black scale in his pocket. Xiumin had given him a golden one as well, just in case, but he doesn’t really think either Tao or Xiumin is going to appreciate him calling them over just so he can ask them to ask Kris to stop crying. Especially since he is the source of those tears, even if they can’t help it.

 

How long could someone go crying, anyway? He guesses it works differently for merpeople as it does for humans, but still. He sighs, and he’s about to say something about the rain when the entire ship jolts.

 

Sehun jumps up, cursing. “What the fuck was that? Did we run into a rock, or something?”

 

“We’re anchored.” Joonmyeon shakes his head. “Maybe something ran into us. Come on.” He rushes out first, not even bothering about raincoats.

 

The ‘something’ turns out to be another ship. With black sails. Joonmyeon starts cursing and Baekhyun grabs for the gun at his side. They’re a small crew, so any pirate run-ins are dangerous. And this ship is gigantic. Baekhyun figures they’re a crew of 50, maybe even more, until he sees the fleet. “Oh my god. What – how did this even happen?!”  


“Captain,” Jongin hisses. “I don’t know what happened, but our anchor isn’t down. It’s, like, covered in seafoam. And up.”

 

Seafoam. Baekhyun’s heart drops and he fingers the scales. But what could Xiumin and Tao do? Xiumin might be able to do some damage with his whales, but he wasn’t sure if that ability extended to all the merpeople, or if Xiumin was special because he was the crown prince. And he couldn’t risk their lives just for this.

 

Joonmyeon looks calm, even as pirates start crowding the deck. They smell, Baekhyun thinks. Joonmyeon doesn’t let it distract him. “Hello.”

 

The pirates bark out in laughter. “Hello, he says. You’re a little runt, aren’t you? Got a teeny little crew? Thought it’d be fun to run into a pirate meeting?”

 

“That wasn’t our intention.” Joonmyeon says, his voice soft. “Our anchor was pulled up without us knowing. We don’t even know where we are. We’re a small trading ship, and we haven’t much with us. But please take all you want. I only ask you leave the crew unscathed.”

 

The pirates are look taken aback by Joonmyeon’s calm. Joonmyeon isn’t easily shaken, and he’s gotten them out of plenty of tight spots. Baekhyun thinks about the jewels in their inventory, and the thought of the pirates’ dirty hands on Kris’ diamonds makes his insides twist. But he stays silent.

 

One of the pirates – one of the captains of this ‘pirate meeting’, Baekhyun thinks – starts guffawing. “You think you can offer us something? I don’t know. All this rain is pissing everyone off, and I might just need to blow off some steam by shooting all of you dead and letting this ship sink.”

 

As if to prove his point, he points his gun, and before anyone can react, Sehun buckles to the ground, crying in pain. “Sehun!” Kyungsoo dives for the youngest member of their crew, pressing his hand over Sehun’s bleeding thigh. Joonmyeon’s eyes turn stormy and Jongin flicks the safety on his pistol off. But it’s six of them, against hundreds. Maybe even up to thousands – Baekhyun can’t see where the end of the pirate ships are.

 

Until there’s a bunch of yelling and the loud screech of – of _something_. The pirate captain that had been leveling his gun at Joonmyeon’s head flinches and turns back. The screech sounds again, and Baekhyun sees what’s made the sound. It’s a pod of killer whales jumping up into huge arcs, crashing into the sides of the boats and either destroying the wooden hulls or striking it so it’s no longer afloat.

 

“What the fuck?!” The pirate says, but before he can even turn around, there are killer whales everywhere, striking down ships one by one. There’s an uproar, a bunch of shooting guns, and Baekhyun watches, his jaw dropped.

 

He also realizes it’s stopped raining.

 

He runs over to the side of the boat, ignoring Joonmyeon’s cry of surprise. There’s a flash of silver, and Baekhyun strains to crane his neck, trying to see better. He’s hit in the face with something wet, and he wipes it off. There’s a silver-blue scale in his hand. “Kris.” He whispers. “What are you _doing_ here?”

 

“Saving your ass!” A familiar voice shouts, and Baekhyun blinks to see Tao holding onto a shark. By this point, Chanyeol and Jongin have made it to the side of the boat as well, and their jaws drop when they see the merpeople.

 

There’s a low cry of a whale, sad and familiar, and all the ships just… sink. Xiumin appears alongside Tao, rubbing the back of a large humpback. He glances up at Baekhyun and nods slightly, smiling a little before diving back into the ocean. “I want cookies!” Tao shouts up at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun can’t help it. He starts laughing.

 

“Captain,” Chanyeol says, looking starstruck, “our medic is friends with merpeople.”

 

\--

 

Tao and Xiumin and Kris are up on deck. It’s weird to see them in sunlight, their tails glistening in the bright sun. Kris is next to Baekhyun, his tail swaying lazily as he watches Baekhyun patch Sehun up. “I missed you,” Kris says, smiling, and the sun matches his bright smile.

 

Baekhyun pulls the bandage tight and fastens it before rubbing Kris’ cheek. “I know. I got the diamonds.” Kris grins at that and he leans over, wrapping his long arms around Baekhyun’s waist and burying his face in his stomach. Baekhyun rubs his shoulder, unable to help the smile that spreads across his lips.

 

Xiumin sits lazily on the edge of the boat, and his golden tail is even more magnificent in the sun. Tao’s black one seems even darker – if that’s possible – in the light, and Kyungsoo’s sitting by him, his mouth not quite fully closed as he feeds Tao cookies.

 

“Mermen.” Chanyeol mutters. “You’re friend with _merpeople_. Merpeople who aren’t supposed to be real. Merpeople who saved our asses. Merpeople who can control whales and orcas and sharks.”

 

“Not control,” Xiumin corrects, gently from where he’s sitting and watching Tao stuff his face with cookies. “We just asked them to help. Tao, if you’re done with the cookies, we have to go. Kris isn’t even supposed to be here.”

 

Baekhyun feels Kris’ grip around his waist tighten. His body curls closer to Baekhyun’s, but Xiumin’s face is strict. “Kris,” Baekhyun says, even though his own hands are gripping onto Kris’ shoulder. “Just two more months. Not even, now.”

 

The sun disappears behind the clouds. Tao looks up from his cookies and cries, “ _Ge,_ not again! We’ve had enough rain.”

 

Jongin balks. “The rain was because of _you_? Could you not? Please? Because Sehun and I have been stuck in the engine room all day, every day, fixing leaks. And now that Sehun’s got a hole in his leg, I have to do it myself.”

 

“Thanks.” Sehun grumbles. “I feel so appreciated.”

 

Jongin ignores him. “Please don’t cry. You don’t want Baekhyun suffering under all the rain, right?”

 

Kris hugs Baekhyun tighter, not lifting his head. Baekhyun feels a drop of a gem against his stomach, and a drop of rain against his cheek, but then Xiumin flicks his hand and the downpour of rain comes down everywhere but around them. The movement makes Kyungsoo’s jaw drop, and Joonmyeon looks severely impressed.

 

The rain only lasts for a few minutes, and Kris sits back up, rubbing at his eyes. “Okay,” he says, looking resolute. “Just a little more.”

 

Baekhyun leans forward, smiles and pecks Kris’ lips. “Just a little more.” He’s got a lap full of diamonds. Chanyeol’s mouth hangs slack at the sight. “Are you the only one who calls the rain?”

 

Kris smiles sheepishly, and the sun shines warmly. “Yeah. It has something to do with the lady, I think.”

 

The _lady_. Baekhyun suddenly remembers their seafoam-covered anchor. He grips Kris’ shoulder once, and he glances up at Xiumin. Their eyes meet, and Xiumin nods once. “Come on, Tao. Take Kris back.” He hoists himself up to the railing. “And Baekhyun, Kris. Don’t think I didn’t notice the scale. I’m going to be taking that away.”

 

Kris scowls, his lips pursed, and he mutters words Baekhyun can’t understand under his breath. Baekhyun figures they’re curses. Xiumin smiles and holds his hand out, and Baekhyun sighs, handing him the scale. Kris snorts and dives into the water, Tao hurriedly following with a last cookie stuffed in his mouth. Xiumin watches them go. “You had something to tell me?”

 

“Yeah. We were anchored down, nowhere near here. But our anchor was pulled up when we found ourselves here. And it was covered in seafoam.” Xiumin’s expression hardens. “The currents are also not the way they should be.”

 

“I noticed the currents.” Xiumin replies, his face unreadable. “But the seafoam on your anchor… I suppose she’s just getting blatant. Her plan was to lure you into danger and have him surface.” He frowns and rubs the scale in his hand. “I feel like we’re just playing into her hand more and more.” Xiumin rubs Kris’ silvery blue scale in his fingers, and hands it back to Baekhyun. “Keep it. At this point, I don’t know what the best course is, but I know you’ll keep it safe.”

 

\--

 

“When were you going to tell us that you’re friends with merpeople?” Sehun asks, his eyes wide.

 

“And that you’re _dating_ one of them?!” Chanyeol adds. “And that you’re important for them to call like whales and orcas and sharks to totally sink hundreds of pirate ships? And what’s this about you being lured into danger? And those scales?”

 

Baekhyun fingers the scales in his pocket. “They’re to call them here.” He lays out the scales. Xiumin’s golden one, Kris’ silver-blue one, and Tao’s black one. They’re more or less all the same size, and Baekhyun picks up Kris’ scale, rubbing it between his fingers. Ever since Xiumin mentioned playing into the seafoam’s hands, he hasn’t been able to get rid of the sinking feeling deep in his stomach. He’s never felt so helpless before.

 

Joonmyeon takes a golden scale. “I didn’t know you knew more than one.”  


Jongin’s wide eyes turn to their captain. “Captain, you _knew_ he was friends with merpeople?”

 

“I saw him with one. I thought it was a mermaid, though. Why didn’t you correct me?”

 

Baekhyun sighs. “I didn’t want – he was supposed to be a secret. I didn’t want more information than necessary going out. Listen. They came to help us. You guys have to keep this a secret.”

 

Kyungsoo snorted, picking up the black scale. “You can _trust_ us, you know. Of course we’ll keep it.” He frowns at the scale. “You think he’ll want more cookies the next time he visits?”

 

\--

 

The next week or so goes quietly. Chanyeol jokes about never having to worry about money again, but that’s the only time the merpeople are even inferred to. Baekhyun thinks they’ll just need a month and a half. Six weeks, and he can see Kris as much as he wants to.

 

The days get continuously less sunny, and Jongin keeps staring up at the sky like he’s expecting it to start pouring any moment. But it doesn’t, and it’s Tao again at the end of the week after. “None of Kris’ tears. But I cried a whole bunch, just for you.” He says, opening the pouch (larger than usual) and showing Baekhyun the bag of amethysts. There’s a bunch of rubies and sapphires and emeralds in the mix as well. Kyungsoo feeds Tao more cookies, and Tao stays on deck for a bit, his black tail glistening in the moonlight as he chomps down on the sweets.

 

“How’s Kris?” Baekhyun’s almost afraid to ask. “He’s… doing okay?”

 

Tao chews his latest mouthful slowly. “Yeah. He keeps down to the seafloor. I mean, if I’m not tagging along, Luhan is, and he deals with it. He’s not _happy_ about it.” Tao glances pointedly upward at the skies, filled with clouds visible even in the night. “But he’s not bawling about it again, so there’s that.”

 

Baekhyun remembers Kris’ stories about Tao crying at anything and everything and wonders if Tao has the rights to say that, but doesn’t mention it. “Just one more month,” he says instead.

 

Tao nods. “Yeah.” He pauses, and then snatches another cookie from Kyungsoo’s plate. “And then I can go shove it back in the stupid witch’s face.”

 

\--

 

“Just two days,” Baekhyun told himself. “Today and tomorrow.” He grinned at the calendar. The witch was wrong, after all. Tao had come just a few days ago, dropping off another bag of gems, eating a bowl full of cookies, and telling him how Kris was. He was certain Xiumin and the other would be on the strictest looking – probably had been for the past week. The sky hadn’t quite cleared up, but it also wasn’t raining, and Baekhyun got out of bed with a light chest.

 

\--

 

“Holy shit, what the fuck was that?” Sehun cursed, almost dropping to the floor. His leg had healed nicely, but he was still limping and couldn’t quite run.  


Baekhyun looked up at the second crash of thunder. “It’s not raining,” he whispered, his heart dropping to his chest. Nothing could be wrong, right?

 

“Uh.” Chanyeol said, climbing down from the crow’s nest. “Okay, I swear I’m not being weird. But all the waves just died.”

 

Baekhyun’s blood ran cold and he ran to the side of the boat. Xiumin had already surfaced, the whale he was on dropping him off on deck. “Kris.” Xiumin said, grabbing Baekhyun’s arm. “Where is he? Is he here?”

 

“No.” Baekhyun whispered, feeling the color drain from his face. “What are you talking about? You were supposed to be keeping a watch over him!”  


“We were. All five of us.” Xiumin said, his voice barely a whisper. He looked haunted. Four more mermen dropped onto deck, three of which Baekhyun had never seen before. “We were all – he was just talking. He was so happy about – about how he was going to be able to see you tomorrow.”

 

One of the new mermen spoke up. “Xiumin. If he’s not here, then…”

 

Xiumin looked panicked. “I don’t-“

 

A loud thunder cut him off, and then torrents of rain started pouring on them. Baekhyun could barely hear anything above the crash of rain around them, and he saw Xiumin raise his hand. The rain lessoned a little but didn’t stop. “Come inside!” Joonmyeon cried, shielding his face against the torrent. “We can’t talk here.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun found himself sitting at the table with five merpeople. Sehun and Jongin were silent with their eyes wide, Chanyeol looked like he wanted to say something, Kyungsoo had brought out a plate of cookies (that no one was touching), and Joonmyeon looked resolute. Baekhyun couldn’t comprehend anything.

 

“We were so close.” Tao finally whispered. “Just one more day.”

 

“Don’t say that,” one of the new mermen said. “ _Don’t_.”

 

Baekhyun ignored the trembling in his hands. “I don’t understand. What happened? If he was talking to you, how could he have disappeared?”

 

“There was seafoam.” Xiumin said, bowing his head and resting his forehead in his hands. “He was just gone.” He looked up, as if suddenly remembering something. “This is Lay.” He motioned to the black-haired merman with a navy tail. Lay smiled sadly at him. “Luhan.” A maroon-haired one with a soft pink tail. “Chen.” A chocolate-haired one with a dark green tail.

 

Luhan slammed his fists on the table. “This rain. It must be Kris. It’s not natural.”

 

“He must be _hurt_.” Chen added, squeezing his eyes shut. “This isn’t from his tears, is it? It’s why you can’t stop it, isn’t it?”

 

Baekhyun’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

 

Chen buried his face in his hands. “It doesn’t just rain when he’s crying. It rains when he’s bleeding, too. The last time I saw this much rain, Kris almost got his arm ripped off by that rogue hammerhead.”

 

There was a heavy silence in the room until Sehun spoke up. “Could it be that he was… taken by humans?”  


Luhan nodded. “That was Xiumin’s guess. We couldn’t find him anywhere within the sea, and trust me, we dispatched every sea beast there is. This is why we need your help. If he’s anywhere on the sea, we could take care of it. But we’re powerless on land.”

 

Lay added, “We’ll pay you as much as you want. Our tears are valuable on land, right? And when we get Kris back, he can give you some of his, too.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Joonmyeon said, standing up. “This is Baekhyun’s boyfriend we are talking about. It concerns us, too. We’ll head to shore. I need to talk to my parents. Chanyeol?”

 

Chanyeol stood, but then paused and looked at Xiumin. “Yeah, right behind you. You can’t do anything about this rain, though? Like last time?”

 

Xiumin frowned. “Sorry. He must be in..” He paused, brought his hand to his chest and bowed his head before he could speak again. “He must be in a lot of pain. But take me with you. I can make the waves carry us faster in the direction you need.”

 

After the three had slipped out into the torrent, Chen looked up. “His parents?”

 

Jongin shrugged. “Joonmyeon’s parents are super rich. He chose not to walk that path, mostly because they have shady connections. But if a merman is floating around on the market, they’d know.”

 

\--

 

“All right, you guys need to get off.” Sehun said, limping into the dining area. “We’re getting really close to land, and if you stay on, there’s a chance the rest of _you_ will get caught, too.”

 

“Right.” Luhan muttered, rubbing his temple. He plucked out six of his scales and handed them to Sehun. “Please. All of you, take one. And call us. When – if – anything at all. If you have anything at all.”

 

Sehun took the scales, and then the ones Chen and Lay gave him as well. Lay caught Sehun’s hand and thick droplets of emeralds dropped into Sehun’s palm. “Please.” Lay whispered, his voice trembling as the emeralds cascaded down his cheeks. “Please find him. Tao, give him your scales.”

 

“No.” Tao said, his voice firm. “I’m staying here.”

 

“What?” Chen hissed. “Tao, no. It’s too dangerous. What if _you_ get caught? Then we’ll have two mermen to look for.”

 

“I’m _staying_. I was – I was supposed to be looking after _ge_. I was supposed to be there protecting him.” Tao squeezed his eyes shut, and amethysts dropped onto his lap.

 

Luhan shifted in his seat to lean closer. “Tao, none of this was your fault. We couldn’t have stopped it. Don’t be stubborn and come. We have to look in the seas again. Xiumin will be angry if he hears what you’re trying to do.”

 

“No,” Xiumin said, when the door opened and Joonmyeon let him down into a seat. “Let Tao stay.”

 

“ _Xiumin_.”

 

Xiumin shook his head. “Tao’s strong enough to defend himself. The seafoam won’t have any effect on him, anyway. But don’t leave the ship, Tao. I need you to be in a position where you can either call the sharks for help or jump into the sea to escape. You’re _not_ allowed to get yourself caught, you understand?”

 

Luhan scowled. “You can’t just leave him here, _ge_.”

 

“It’s his choice.” Xiumin’s voice was firm. “He’ll be fine. Come on. We’ve only got a few hours until Kris’ birthday. We don’t have time to waste.”

 

\--

 

Sehun pulled out a wheelchair. “Chanyeol once broke his leg,” he explained to Tao, helping him into it. “It’s kind of old, but Jongin and I oiled it up so it should roll around fine. If we just spread this blanket over your tail…” He tucked it securely around Tao’s leg, hiding the tail fin securely. “Ta da. Now no one will be wiser.”

 

Tao thanked him quietly and looked up to the crow’s nest, where Baekhyun was sitting, unmoving and staring into the city even though it was impossible to see through the rain. Jongin followed his gaze. “He cares a lot about Kris.”

 

“I know,” Tao answered, looking back down. “But that won’t mean anything unless we can get Kris back.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun gripped the silver scale in his hand. He was crying, but the rain thundered down on top of him and he could barely feel his own tears. “Are you hurt, Kris?” He whispered, although it was lost in the torrent. “How do I get to you?”

 

He wondered what they were going to do if Joonmyeon’s parents couldn’t help them. He had no doubt that Joonmyeon’s parents _would_ help them, if they knew. They made their money doing shady business, but they were good parents. Baekhyun hugged his knees and clutched the scale in his hand. “Please.” He whispered. “Don’t take him from me.”

 

He wondered if anyone would answer him, and wondered if anyone _could_. He wanted to gather up all the seafoam in the world and demand that she give Kris back to him. “I’ll do anything,” he whispered. “I’ll take his place, if you want me to.”

 

He paused, and then he looked up, his eyes wide. “I’ll take his place,” He whispered again, and then gripped the railing of the crow’s nest to stand himself up. “You don’t need _Kris_ , right? You just need someone to share the same fate you did. I’ll do it. I’ll become seafoam. Leave Kris alone.”

 

His feet managed to not slip at all as he climbed down the ladder and held himself at the edge of the deck. The waters were dark, rain slamming down into the surface and making it unfathomable. “I’ll take his place. Please. Don’t hurt him.” He hurled himself off the edge of the ship.

 

He must have sank for about a minute until something pushed him back up. “Don’t be an idiot.” Tao spat, grabbing him by the waist. There was a great white below them, providing a platform for him to sit on. “I don’t think it would work. If you do it out of love for ge, then you’re not suffering the same fate as she did. Plus, even if it did, if ge found out, you think he’d be happy?”

 

Baekhyun gripped his fists and slammed them into Tao’s shoulders. Tao didn’t even flinch. “I can’t just sit here.” He sobbed. “You said Kris is _bleeding_. Look how much it’s raining.”

 

Tao pushed him back into the water and Baekhyun floundered before he could grab onto the shark again. Tao’s gaze was fierce. “If you think you’re the only one here who cares about him, you’re wrong. You met him less than a year ago. Chen, Lay, and I have known him all our lives. Xiumin-ge and Luhan-ge have known him for 21 years. You don’t think we’re hurting as much as you are, if not more?”

 

Baekhyun stared blankly at Tao until Tao hauled him up onto the shark. It was only then he realized Tao was crying. The rain made it hard to tell, but tears were pouring down his cheeks, and Tao’s shoulders sagged. Baekhyun reached to wrap his arms around Tao and pulled him closer.

 

\--

 

He must have fallen asleep, because he jolted awake. He was on a sunny beach, his head in the lap of a merperson, and his eyes caught the glint of the sunlight on silver scales. He shot up. “Kris?!”

 

He came eye to eye with a mermaid. She had blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like sapphires dropped from Luhan’s eyes. “Hello,” she said, her voice smooth as silk.

 

Baekhyun flinched backward. “You’re the seafoam.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Am I dreaming?”

 

“Yes. I put you to sleep. You wanted to talk to me.” She smiled serenely at him, and for a moment Baekhyun couldn’t believe it. “You want to know why. I took your dear merman from you.” She sighed, pulling him down so his head was back on her lap. She stroked her fingers through his hair, just the way Kris used to, and he sat up, shoving her away. She laughed, and the sound chilled his spine. “He’s such a sweet fool. Thought I’d take care of him. But I just needed someone to share the same doom I did. You weren’t supposed to love him this much, of course. But it works. He won’t feel betrayed, but he’s in enough pain. And you’ll feel just as hurt as I did. Just as helpless as I did, when you realize that there’s nothing you can do.”

 

Baekhyun watched in horror as the beach they were sitting on suddenly turned into waves of sticky gold, staining his pants as the waves lapped at his knees. She laughed again. “I waited so long for this. I couldn’t do it sooner. The sea king is stronger than I am. But now he’s getting old and weak, and the eldest son is still too untrained in what his powers could be to stop me. And _you_.” She laughed, leaning over to pat his face. “You’re just human. Filthy, dirty things.”

 

Baekhyun hit her hand away. “I wouldn’t underestimate Xiumin.” He spat, standing up. The gold around them smelled like salt water. “Or Kris. Or me.” He watched her face contort. “I’ll get him back. And I’m going to protect him. You just try and stop me.”

 

She screech and dove for him, but he sidestepped her, splashing in the golden blood to twist away from her. He dove for her instead, plucking the knife that he kept strapped on his belt, and shoved it into her shoulder blade.

 

She screamed and he flinched back as she turned, gripping his arm and pulling him under the surface. He kicked out but she kept her weight firmly on top of him.

 

Until suddenly it was gone. “What?! Seafoam?”

 

Baekhyun rubbed the gold liquid from his face and watched in disbelief as white seafoam crowded her away. His pocket burned hot and he plucked the silver scale from it, his eyes wide. “Kris.”

 

As soon as he said the name, the beach and the gold ocean disappeared, leaving him in the dark wading in ankle-deep water. He was still covered in the golden goo, and he tried to brush it off. A small piece of foam clung to his ankle and he paused. “How do I wake up?”

 

The foam detached itself from his ankle and floated away, and he followed it. He already knew what would be waiting for him when the foam disappeared, and he stood, his throat seizing. “Hey.”  


“Hi,” Kris said, smiling. “Come closer. Didn’t you miss me?”

 

Baekhyun couldn’t move. He couldn’t talk. Kris sighed and his fingers brushed against the top of the black water. Baekhyun noticed he was cut everywhere, gold seeping from almost every part of his body. Kris noticed the stare and laughed sadly. “Are you… are we already too late?”

 

Kris considered for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. Not yet.” He cautiously slid his fingers over his arm. It came away covered in gold. “Almost, though.”

 

“Wake me up. Kris, let me wake up. I can’t be sleeping now. I have to find you.” Baekhyun forced his heavy legs to move and he collapsed next to Kris. Closer, he could see the extent of the injuries even more and it made his heart throb. “What have they done to you?”

 

“I’m not quite sure.” Kris sighed, resting his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder. “It hurt.” He didn’t say anything for a while, then Baekhyun saw diamonds rolling down his shoulders into the water. “Stay with me here until – until the end.”

 

Baekhyun bit his lip hard enough to break skin. He spat the coppery liquid into the sea and gripped Kris’ shoulder. “I’m not going to let that happen.” He brought his lips to Kris, pressing their lips together. “You’re not going to become seafoam. I’m going to protect you.”

 

Kris looked at him, diamonds scrolling past his cheeks. “I don’t want to become seafoam.” He whispered, trembling in Baekhyun’s arms. “I don’t want to die.”

 

“You’re not. Wake me up, Kris.” Baekhyun pressed his lips to Kris’ forehead. “I’m going to go get you. I swear. You just have to help me find you.”

 

Kris closed his eyes and this time Baekhyun brushed the diamonds away from Kris’ cheeks before they could finish their journey. They plinked as they hit the water somewhere away. “She’s stronger than I am.”

 

Baekhyun smiled, kissing Kris’ nose. “I think you’re stronger than she is. You saved me from her. I know you can do it. Now wake me up, Kris. We don’t have that much time. I swear I’ll come get you. I’m not going to let you turn into seafoam.”

 

Kris bowed his head, and took a scale from his tail, handing it to Baekhyun. “Okay.”

 

\--

 

“Hey, the foam’s going away. And no more rain?”

 

Baekhyun spluttered as he wiped the seafoam from his face, shaking it off his hand and spitting. “How long was I out for?” Chanyeol was leaning over him, his eyes wide.

 

“Not long.” Luhan said, reaching over to wipe more seafoam from his face. “What happened?”  


“I met the lady. She tried to kill me, I think, although I did stab her first…” He patted down. “My knife’s gone!”

 

“You _stabbed_ her?” Chen repeated, his eyes wide. “Wait, she tried to kill you?”

 

“Yeah, but Kris-“

 

Xiumin’s voice cut in. “Kris? You met Kris?”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “He saved me. He’s hurt. Almost dying, he thinks. We have to set sail. Joonmyeon, your parents didn’t give you anything, right?”

 

“No, they didn’t hear about anything.”

 

Baekhyun nodded, gripping “Kris is going to help us. Let’s set sail, captain.”

 

\--

 

“Oh, I don’t like this.” Chanyeol groaned, rubbing his temple. “This is a ship graveyard.”

 

Lay’s fingers gripped the railing of the ship. “Oh, no. Xiumin.”

 

Joonmyeon looked up. “Is there something we should know about here?”

 

Lay shook his head. “No, just… look.”

 

The crew shuffled over to the edge of the ship. Baekhyun gritted his teeth. There was gold swirling on the edges of the ship, staining the rotting wood as waves lapped at the sunk ships. Lay whistled quietly and the dolphins that had been quietly swimming near them started to push debris out of the way of their ship. Chen leaned over and dove in, helping his pod of seals clear the way as well. The water was dark at night, but the skies were eerily clear and the moon shone their way.

 

“Don’t worry about the ship getting damaged.” Xiumin told Joonmyeon, sitting at the helm. “We won’t let it happen. And even if something _does_ happen, we’ll make sure none of you drown.”

 

“That’s actually reassuring.” Sehun muttered, staring into the pod of sharks swimming close to the boat. “It’s kind of cool that if we fall, sharks are going to keep us from drowning. We usually try to keep away from those, you know. Because they try to eat us.”

 

Tao snorted in response but said nothing.

 

“Okay, I don’t think we can go anymore.” Chanyeol said, letting the wheel go. “That’s a pretty tight maze.”

 

Xiumin nodded. “All right. If you want to, you can stay here.”

 

“That’s stupid.” Jongin snorted. “We’re going to get him back. If he’s important to Baekhyun, he’s important to all of us. How are we going to get there, though? We aren’t as good swimmers as you are.”

 

Tao rolled his eyes and pointed into the waters. “Duh. Take your pick. Dolphin, shark, seal, or turtle?”

 

Sehun chose the great white, and looked on with giant eyes as Tao led his hands to the dorsal fin. “Hold firmly. If you fall off, you’re going to have to get back on without my help, and sharks get impatient.” He smirked when Sehun flinched. “Don’t worry. They won’t hurt a friend of the merpeople.”

 

“That sounds pretty cool,” Kyungsoo muttered, sliding up onto the back of a turtle with Luhan’s help. “Okay, this is kind of comfortable. I don’t have a place to hold onto, though.”

 

Luhan shook his head. “You can hold on to the edge of his shell, if you want. But turtles are smooth swimmers. You won’t need to hold onto anything.” Kyungsoo found himself a handhold on the edges of the shell anyway.

 

Baekhyun got onto a great white himself, and Joonmyeon and Jongin helped themselves to dolphins while Chanyeol decided he wanted to cling onto a seal. He eyed Xiumin. “Where’s your animal?”

 

Xiumin chuckled. “Whales are a little too big for this, I’m afraid.”

 

That made Chanyeol’s jaw drop and his grip on the seal slipped, making Chen groan.

 

\--

 

The swim was quiet, but the seafoam quietly floated along. Baekhyun followed at the lead with Xiumin and Tao by his side. Once or twice he thought he heard a faint cry of the whale, and when he finally looked to Xiumin on the third, Xiumin smirked.

 

The gold concentration in the water was getting thicker, and the great white that he was riding on gave a quiet shudder. Tao patted its side. “I know,” he said, his voice thick. “Me too.”

 

Baekhyun swallowed thickly as a large ship clearly _not_ in the same condition as the others came to view. Xiumin muttered something Baekhyun couldn’t quite understand and dove smoothly into the sea, followed quickly by Luhan. “Stay here.” Lay told them just before Chen and he dove into the sea as well. “Tao will stay with you.”

 

“I’m going with you.” Baekhyun said, ready to cling onto Lay if he had to.

 

Chen shook his head. “No. Stay here. We’ll come get you once we’re ready. There’s no need for you to unnecessarily put yourself in danger.” Before Baekhyun could respond, both were already gone.

 

Tao explained, “They’re going to break holes into the hull so the ship gets flooded. It won’t harm Kris. It’ll help, if he gets into contact with seawater. We’ll take care of whoever jumps ship, and then the rest when the ship sinks and they don’t have anything to hold onto. I hope you brought your weapons.”

 

Chanyeol squawked. “We were supposed to bring our guns?!”

 

Kyungsoo sighed. “Did you think we were going on a field trip?”

 

\--

 

The ship sank faster than Baekhyun would have thought. He saw the ship slowly sinking, although obviously the crew hadn’t noticed it yet. Joonmyeon snorted and whispered, “I would have noticed right away.”

 

Jongin shrugged. “Not everyone’s you, captain.”

 

There was panicked screaming soon. “All right.” Tao said, patting the shark’s side. “Time for you guys.” The shark under Baekhyun or Sehun didn’t move, but the other sharks swam quietly forward. Baekhyun watched somewhat in horror as the people who’d jumped over the sides suddenly got pulled underwater without even a chance to start screaming. Tao turned to the dolphins. “The ones on the dinghies are for you guys.”

 

The dolphins clicked quietly before diving. “This is going to make some noise. So you guys need to get your guns ready.”  


“Except Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo muttered, rolling his eyes. “Maybe you can get one from a pirate.” He flicked his safety off. “Once we start shooting, Tao, they’re definitely going to know something’s wrong.”

 

“I know.” Tao said, nodding. “Stay on your rides. They’ll keep you safe. I’ll grab Chanyeol a weapon.”

 

“It needs to be before they sink.” Chanyeol said frantically. “They won’t work once the gunpower is wet.”

 

Tao nodded. “All right, I’ll see what I can do.” Tao dove, and as soon as he disappeared under water, a pod of dolphins jumped out of the water, striking the dinghy that was being lowered into the water. Jongin fired two shots, followed by Baekhyun’s two. Sehun and Joonmyeon also started shooting, and soon enough Tao appeared again, handing Chanyeol a dry firearm.

 

“Stick close to Kyungsoo and Sehun.” Joonmyeon told Baekhyun as the shark Baekhyun was on jerked to the side to avoid the spray of bullets. “We should get some cover. We’ll split up.”

 

“Yeah. Stay safe, captain.”

 

“You too, Baekhyun. Don’t do anything dumb.”

 

Baekhyun snorted and grabbed onto the dorsal fin as the shark started to swim away from the bullets. Kyungsoo was checking how many shots he had left and Sehun seemed like he’d now gotten used to riding on the shark, and he looked back up. “No killer whales,” Kyungsoo noted. “That’s Kris’, huh.”

 

“Yeah.” Baekhyun said. “It’s okay, we’ll get him back.” He gritted his teeth and fired two more shots. He saw one go down but his second bullet must have missed. “Do you think you can get us closer?” He stroked the shark’s side, wondering if it understood. But it seemed to, quietly swimming behind broken ship hulls to keep giving them cover while inching them closer.

 

Kyungsoo fired off four more shots. He hit every single one, but Kyungsoo had amazing aim. Baekhyun fired off more shots out of spite and ended up hitting two more. “This is kind of amazing.” Kyungsoo said, adjusting himself on the back of the turtle so he could get a better aim. He patted the turtle’s back and it growled lowly.

 

Baekhyun watched the ship completely sink. There was a lot of yelling now that the pirates had noticed the presence of random sea animals. In the pitch dark of the night ocean, no one could see what was going on, but once a great white surfaced, everyone started screaming.

 

“I’d feel bad,” Sehun said, tucking the gun back onto his belt. “But I don’t really.”

 

Kyungsoo aimed and let off two shots, managing to hit two pirates without grazing a single dolphin or shark or seal or turtle that was jumping out of the sea to sink others. “I don’t either. Can you take us closer? I don’t think there’s much of a threat anymore.”  


The turtle and the sharks started swimming closer, and Tao surfaced, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “We found Kris.” Tao said, his voice unreadable. “He’s in a bad way, but he’s alive.”

 

Alive. Baekhyun’s heart thudded in his chest. “Where is he?”

 

“Xiumin-ge’s bringing him up. He just thought you guys should know beforehand.” Tao patted the shark Baekhyun was sitting on. “You guys can tread water, right? You won’t have to for long.” When Kyungsoo nodded, the sharks and turtle slowly sank away, swimming quietly away. Before Baekhyun could ask what was going on, he saw the waves suddenly rise and realized what was going on.

 

He heard Jongin curse in surprise as the whale surfaced slowly under them, pushing the debris of sunken ships completely out of the way. The whale stopped before it was fully surfaced, keeping the humans knee-deep in sea water. Xiumin was on its back, cradling a blonde head in his lap.

 

Baekhyun didn’t even pause to think about who it was. He ran, his legs sluggish in the water until Tao caught his arm and dragged him through. “Oh, god,” Baekhyun whispered, reaching out to Kris with trembling hands. Kris was leaking golden blood into the seawater. “You need to take him to your doctors right away.”

 

Lay shook his head. “It’ll be too late by then. But you’re a medic, right?” Baekhyun looked up, eyes wide. Lay smiled serenely at him. “We’re not as different as you think.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun dressed the wounds as best as he could, trying not to take note of everything that could go wrong. Kris had already lost so much blood. His back was whipped raw and was a mess of torn flesh and gold blood, and Baekhyun hadn’t even known where to start. He’d treated his shipmates, but they’d never been tortured. Or hurt this badly. The worst he’d ever had to do was treat Chanyeol when he got shot in the stomach.

 

He pushed the thoughts back and wrapped the gauze tightly around Kris’ torso. Lay was watching quietly off to the side, helping Baekhyun whenever he could. Kris’ tail was mostly unharmed – the pirates had apparently thought that was worth saving – but he was missing a few chunks of his scales. Lay had promised they’d grow back, but Baekhyun couldn’t help but glance at the few patches that he’d slapped bandages over to keep them from oozing blood. He set Kris’ broken wrist as best as he could, wrapping the bone tightly.

 

“Will he live?” He asked Lay. There wasn’t a piece of skin that wasn’t bruised or under bandages.

 

“I think so.” Lay answered quietly, rubbing Kris’ bandaged hand. “We got to him in time, and he’s strong.” He looked out the window of the medbay. “The sun’s rising.”

 

Baekhyun looked up. “It is.”

 

Lay smiled and reached to brush his fingers through Kris’ blonde locks. “Happy birthday, _ge_.”

 

\--

 

“We’re actually not allowed back,” Chen explained sheepishly, the next day when they showed back up. “We kind of broke the rules by revealing ourselves to you guys.”

 

Jongin’s jaw dropped. “But you were doing it to save your brother.”

 

“Well, even before that.” Chen said, scratching the back of his head. “And Kris is the worst offender, so he can’t go back either.”

 

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow as he peeled the apple and handed it to Tao. “But isn’t Xiumin the crown prince?”

 

Xiumin shrugged. “I wasn’t interested in the crown, anyway. Our cousin will probably take over.” He tapped the side of the boat. “We’d like to stay here, on this ship. But only if it’s all right with you. We could pay for the fare.”

 

Joonmyeon’s jaw dropped. “Oh. Uh. I mean, we’d like that and you don’t have to pay, but aren’t you endangering yourselves?”

 

“I thought of that.” Xiumin chuckled. “And we all talked about it.” He tapped Tao and Tao’s face sank. “Come on, you first.”

 

Tao grumbled but dove into the water, and Luhan, Lay, and Chen followed shortly after. Xiumin was the last to dive in, and Baekhyun watched Jongin and Sehun run to the side. He wanted to watch, but he kind of had an idea already about what was going to happen. “Drop a dinghy down,” he suggested.

 

Chanyeol looked bewildered, but Joonmyeon understood right away and lowered a dinghy. “Holy shit,” Sehun muttered, when the 5 pulled themselves back up. “You guys have _legs_.”

 

Xiumin chuckled. “The sea witch isn’t the only one who can turn fins into legs. We’ll stay like this for now, and Kris can make his decision when he’s awake.”

 

As Chanyeol handed the merpeople-now-people clothes, he said, “… You guys aren’t very tall, huh.”

 

“ _Chanyeol_.”

 

\--

 

It turned out the merpeople kept pretty much everything. Their ability to breathe underwater, their golden blood, their jeweled tears, and the ability to talk to marine life – they just lost their fins.

 

Baekhyun caught Luhan looking longingly at the water often. “You can go down there and swim, you know.”

 

Luhan sighed. “I know. But I’m trying to get used to this.” He pointed to his legs. Lay, Tao, and Xiumin had gotten used to their legs pretty quickly. Luhan was more or less okay on them but he wobbled here and there. Chen was…

 

Chen usually spent his entire day clinging to Joonmyeon or falling face first. He had no idea how to use his legs and wobbled at best on his own. Joonmyeon had somehow fallen to the task of being Chen’s crutches for the time being, although Chanyeol whispered to Baekhyun that he thought Joonmyeon liked Chen clutching at him all the time.

 

“It’s just been a week,” Baekhyun said, reaching a hand out so Luhan could steady himself.

 

“Already a week.” Luhan replied, smiling a little. “I worry every day, still. I feel like one day Kris is just going to get snatched away. Xiumin’s certain it’s not going to happen anymore because Kris is stronger than the seafoam now, but still.”

 

Baekhyun nodded quirtly. He knew what Luhan meant. Even now, Kris was resting belowdecks in a large tub they’d filled with seawater. Baekhyun usually stayed with him, and Kris managed to joke around with him as he sank himself to the chin in water, his silver fin just about fitting into the tub. Xiumin hadn’t brought up the issue of changing into a human to Kris, but as far as Baekhyun knew, Kris hadn’t brought it up either.

 

Kris seemed _comfortable_ in his skin, even when he was still so badly wounded. Baekhyun sighed and Luhan chuckled. “Go see him.”

 

“I just came from seeing him.”

 

“Well, go see him again. He gets pretty lonely down there, you know.”

 

\--

 

Baekhyun put the plate of fruits Kyungsoo had peeled for him down onto the small table. Kris had his head down under water, the end of his fin hanging from the edge of the tub, but when Baekhyun sat down, he surfaced, pushing his blonde bangs back from his eyes. “You’re back,” Kris beamed, reaching for him.

 

Baekhyun took his hand and smiled. “I missed you.”

 

Kris laughed, reaching for the apples and sloshing water onto the floor. “You saw me a few minutes ago.” He seemed to be in almost no pain when he was in the water. Lay and Tao changed the water for him at least twice a day, dumping gold-stained seawater into the ocean and bringing up buckets filled with cool, salty water. His bandages became loose in the water, but Baekhyun didn’t complain as he redid Kris’ bandages over and over again.

 

Kris ate through the fruit happily, and Baekhyun smiled at the return of his appetite. For the first two days when he woke up, Kris had refused to eat anything, worrying Xiumin to no ends. But now his appetite seemed to be back, even if it was just for random fruits.

 

“Hey, Kris.” Baekhyun said, sitting next to the tub even though Kris was still sloshing water everywhere. Kris looked up, and Baekhyun sighed. “I just wanted to get this out there. If you don’t want to turn human, that’s perfectly fine with me. Whatever your decision is, I want you to make it for yourself.”

 

Kris laughed and leaned over the tub to press his lips to Baekhyun’s nose. “Xiumin didn’t tell you?” Baekhyun blinked, confused, and Kris laughed again. “We’re just waiting until my injuries heal. To be honest, I don’t know if I _want_ to be human. But I do know that I want to be with you. You said you’d protect me from becoming seafoam, remember? You’re stuck with me, now.”

 

Baekhyun stared, and then he couldn’t help it. He threw his arms around Kris’ shoulders, hugging him as tightly as he could while he was being mindful of his back injuries. “Good. Because you’re stuck with me, too.”

 

\--

 

“Stop laughing. This is a real problem I have, all right?” Baekhyun hissed to Sehun and Jongin, who were doubled over laughing.

 

“Man,” Sehun moaned dramatically. “I wish _my_ problem could be like that.”

 

Jongin raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? You and Tao seem to be getting pretty close. At this rate, you _are_ going to have the same problem.”

 

“Shut up for a moment.” Baekhyun said, kicking both Sehun and Jongin in the shin. “He bleeds gold and cries diamonds. _Diamonds_. What kind of ring am I supposed to get him?”

 

Jongin rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt Kris will care. He seriously seems content just to be here. You think he’ll be mad that you didn’t get a ring for him? Or that it was expensive enough? I don’t think merpeople even have that practice.”

 

Baekhyun sighed. “To be honest, I don’t think he’ll really care, either. I just – if he’s human and walking around with that face, I don’t want other people to think he’s single.”

 

Jongin gave him a look and smacked him.

 

\--

 

It was another two weeks until Baekhyun was satisfied Kris had completely healed. He went down with Xiumin and watched Kris swim around the ship a couple of times. Baekhyun felt his heart throb. “He’s… really good at it, huh.”

 

Xiumin chuckled. “Tao’s better, but Kris really does love swimming.” His face softened. “He’s going to miss it. I think he’ll have a hard time learning to walk.” He tapped the surface of the water and Kris stopped, turning around mid-swim to come up to them. Xiumin tapped his shoulder. “You ready?”

 

Kris shrugged. “I guess so. Is it going to hurt?”

 

Xiumin rolled his eyes. “Not at all. Close your eyes.”

 

Kris did, obediently, but peeked an eye open to grin at Baekhyun. When Xiumin clicked his tongue, Kris shut both eyes again. Xiumin’s hands tapped the water again, and the waves swirled around where Kris was, glowing brightly for a second. “Whoa!” Kris yelled, his hands floundering for a moment. Baekhyun dove to catch him by his elbows. “Okay, that’s weird.”

 

Xiumin snorted. “Come on.” He said, helping Baekhyun haul Kris up. Baekhyun gulped when Kris kicked his legs uselessly. “Don’t be difficult and stop that.” Xiumin said, sternly, and Kris pouted.

 

Baekhyun swallowed again before handing Kris a towel. “Long fins equal long legs, huh?”

 

Xiumin laughed. “I assume so.” He helped Kris pull on a pair of pants that was a little too short, and Kris frowned at them. “You’ll get used to them.”

 

“I guess,” Kris said, kicking one leg out. “Wow, that’s so weird.”

 

Back on deck, Baekhyun helped Kris stand. He collapsed a few times, complaining about how disoriented he felt, but managed to balance his weight on both feet after a few times. Baekhyun came up to about his cheek.

 

Chanyeol used to be the tallest on deck, but Kris even stood taller than him. Chanyeol sighed. “I take it back. Not so short, after all.”

 

\--

 

By the time Chen stopped falling over thin air, Kris was barely learning how to take a step without faceplanting. "I don’t know how you do it,” Kris sighed dejectedly as Baekhyun grabbed him from falling over once again.

 

Chen was sitting on the ship’s railing, snickering at Kris’ attempts to walk across the width of it. Joonmyeon was hovering nearby, his hands up as if he was ready to catch if Chen toppled over, although both Baekhyun and Joonmyeon both knew Chen would be perfectly fine even if he fell in. “Don’t laugh,” Luhan snorted. “You weren’t much better. Maybe worse.”

 

Kris pushed off from Baekhyun, face resolute as he put one foot in front of the other. “If _Chenchen_ can do it, so can I.”

 

“Chenchen?” Kyungsoo repeated, eyebrow raised as he glanced up at Chen. Tao used his distraction to swipe half the cookies off the plate Kyungsoo was holding. Kyungsoo scowled when he turned his attention back. “I hope you really don’t think I’m that stupid.”  


 

Tao grinned at him, flashing white teeth at him before biting into one of his cookies. Kyungsoo had been trying to wean him off of them without much success. It seemed like all the merpeople were obsessed, mostly because it wasn’t something they’d ever eaten before.

 

Baekhyun almost missed Kris flailing and falling again and grabbed him by the waist. “Okay, that’s enough for today.” He sighed, sitting down and pulling Kris down with him. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.” He tucked Kris to his chest and sighed at the way Kris’ legs stretched much further than his. He leaned forward to press his lips against Kris’ neck.

 

“I need to be able to walk!” Kris insisted, scowling as he twisted in Baekhyun’s grip.

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and pressed their lips together. When they parted, he reached up to trace Kris’ lips, smiling until Kris offered him a small smile. “Yeah. Smile. Don’t frown.” He pressed a soft kiss to Kris’ lips again and grinned. “Because when you smile, the sun shines.”


End file.
